Information processing apparatus and information processing method

ABSTRACT

An information processing apparatus comprises a control unit configured to: acquire information about a predetermined travel route of a vehicle that travels with a plurality of users on board; acquire a current position of the vehicle; compare the current position of the vehicle and the predetermined travel route against each other, and perform determination as to whether the vehicle is traveling along the predetermined travel route or not; and issue a notification to a predetermined device, in a case where a deviation of the vehicle from the predetermined travel route is determined.

CROSS REFERENCE TO THE RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the priority of Japanese Patent Application No.2018-129040, filed on Jul. 6, 2018, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a technology for allowing a pluralityof users to move by riding in a same car.

Description of the Related Art

A mode in which a plurality of occupants move by sharing a ride in onevehicle (ride-sharing) is becoming widespread especially in countriesoutside Japan, for the purpose of alleviating traffic congestion andsaving fuel costs, and as an environmental measure, for example.

A technology for matching a plurality of users is being developed inrelation to such a mode of transport.

In relation to such a technology, US2017/0351990A1 describes a systemthat acquires data regarding an interaction performed between aplurality of users who moved by sharing a ride on a vehicle, and thatfurther provides information based on the interaction.

SUMMARY

In general ride-sharing, strangers ride in a same vehicle to move, andthus, there is a demand to let a user riding in a vehicle know whetherthe vehicle is traveling on a correct route or not, to enable morecomfortable use of ride-sharing.

The present disclosure has been made in view of such circumstances, andhas its object to examine adequacy of a travel route of a vehicle in amode in which a plurality of users move by a same vehicle.

The present disclosure in its one aspect provides an informationprocessing apparatus comprising a control unit configured to: acquireinformation about a predetermined travel route of a vehicle that travelswith a plurality of users on board; acquire a current position of thevehicle; compare the current position of the vehicle and thepredetermined travel route against each other, and perform determinationas to whether the vehicle is traveling along the predetermined travelroute or not; and issue a notification to a predetermined device, in acase where a deviation of the vehicle from the predetermined travelroute is determined.

The present disclosure in its second aspect provides an informationprocessing method for causing an information processing apparatus toperform the steps of acquiring information about a predetermined travelroute of a vehicle that travels with a plurality of users on board;acquiring a current position of the vehicle; comparing the currentposition of the vehicle and the predetermined travel route against eachother, and performing determination as to whether the vehicle istraveling along the predetermined travel route or not; and issuing anotification to a predetermined device, in a case where a deviation ofthe vehicle from the predetermined travel route is determined.

A third aspect of the present disclosure is a program for causing acomputer to execute the information processing method described above,or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing theprogram.

According to the present disclosure, adequacy of a travel route of avehicle may be examined in a mode in which a plurality of users move bya same vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a ride-sharing systemaccording to a first embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a hardware configuration diagram of a user terminal 10 and aserver device 20;

FIG. 3 is a functional configuration diagram of the user terminal 10according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a functional configuration diagram of the server device 20according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an example of a reservation table according to the firstembodiment;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process for determining a deviation from aroute;

FIG. 7 is a diagram describing a method for determining a deviation froma route;

FIG. 8 is a diagram describing the method for determining a deviationfrom a route; and

FIG. 9 is a diagram giving an outline of ride-sharing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The present disclosure relates an information processing apparatus thatexchanges various pieces of information with a user terminal used byeach user, in a mode in which a plurality of users share a ride in asame vehicle (ride-sharing).

An information processing apparatus according to a first aspect of thepresent disclosure acquires information about a predetermined travelroute of a vehicle that travels with a plurality of users on board, anddetermines whether the vehicle is traveling along the predeterminedtravel route or not, based on a result of comparison between a currentposition of the vehicle and the predetermined travel route.

The predetermined travel route is a travel route that is planned inadvance. The route may include boarding locations and alightinglocations of a plurality of users.

In the case where a plurality of users move by riding in a same vehicle,various locations are passed through, and it is difficult for a user onboard to determine whether the vehicle is traveling along a correctroute.

Accordingly, the information processing apparatus according to the firstaspect of the present disclosure compares the current position of thevehicle and the predetermined travel route, and determines whether thevehicle is traveling on a scheduled route or not, and then, in a casewhere a deviation of the vehicle from the predetermined travel route isdetermined, the information processing apparatus issues a notificationto a predetermined device.

For example, whether the vehicle is traveling on a scheduled route ornot may be determined based on a degree of coincidence between thepredetermined travel route and an actual travel route of the vehicle, ormay be determined based on whether a predetermined scheduled location(such as an alighting location of a user) may be reached in time or not.

According to such a configuration, whether the vehicle is traveling on acorrect route or not may be determined, and a user may receive anotification in a case where there is a deviation from the route.

Additionally, there may be a specific margin with respect todetermination of a deviation. For example, even when an initial route isrerouted, if a destination may be reached within a reasonable time, itmay be determined that there is no deviation.

Additionally, the predetermined device may be a device that manages aride-sharing system or a vehicle, or may be a mobile terminal possessedby a user on board. It may alternatively be an in-vehicle device that ismounted in a vehicle.

Furthermore, a degree of deviation that is a value indicating a degreeof deviation of the vehicle from the predetermined travel route may beacquired, and whether there is a deviation from the route or not may bedetermined based on whether the degree of deviation exceeds apredetermined threshold or not.

This is because, in the case where the degree of deviation is lower thanthe threshold, the route may be assumed to have been changed for a goodreason, such as avoidance of congestion.

Furthermore, the predetermined threshold may include a first threshold,and a second threshold higher than the first threshold, and in a casewhere the degree of deviation is at or higher than the first thresholdand lower than the second threshold, the vehicle may be determined to bein a first state, and in a case where the degree of deviation is at orhigher than the second threshold, the vehicle may be determined to be ina second state.

In this manner, whether a deviation is a small deviation or not may bedetermined by providing two thresholds for the degree of deviation.According to such a configuration, different processes may be performeddepending on the degree of deviation.

For example, notification may be performed by a different method betweena case where the vehicle is in the first state and a case where thevehicle is in the second state. This enables an operation of urgingcorrection of the route by issuing a visual notification in a case wherethe deviation is small, and of issuing an alarm in a case where an utterdeviation is determined, for example.

Furthermore, the notification may be transmitted to a different devicebetween a case where the vehicle is in the first state and a case wherethe vehicle is in the second state. This enables an operation of issuinga notification only inside the vehicle (in-vehicle terminal, mobileterminal possessed by a driver or an occupant of the vehicle, etc.) in acase where the deviation is small, and of issuing a notification to asystem administrator in a case where an utter deviation is determined,for example.

The degree of deviation may be calculated based on a rate ofincrease/decrease in an estimated required time until an alightinglocation of the user, present on the predetermined travel route, isreached.

For example, in a case where rerouting is performed to avoid congestion,the estimated required time until an alighting location of a user isreached is temporarily increased, but is then reduced. On the otherhand, when the vehicle starts to travel on an unrelated route, theestimated required time until the alighting location of the user isreached is expected to continue increasing or is expected not to bereduced. Accordingly, the degree of deviation may be appropriatelydetermined based on transition of the estimated required time until analighting location is reached.

In the following, specific embodiments of the present disclosure will bedescribed with reference to the drawings. A hardware configuration, amodule configuration, a functional configuration and the like describedin each embodiment are not intended to limit the technical scope of thedisclosure to such configurations unless specified otherwise.

First Embodiment

First, an outline of a ride-sharing system according to a firstembodiment will be given. FIG. 9 is a diagram for describingride-sharing as a mode of transport by which users move by sharing aride. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating locations of homes and places ofwork for a case where there are three users who are to commute.

If the users are to separately commute, three vehicles have to be used,but when ride-sharing is performed, the number of traveling vehicles maybe reduced. For example, homes and places of work of a user A, a user B,and a user C are close to one another, and thus, if clock-in times orclock-out times are close to one another, ride-sharing may be performed.

The number of vehicles traveling on a road may be reduced by suchride-sharing, and traffic congestion may thereby be suppressed.Moreover, for example, when the users of the vehicle share and beartraffic costs (such as fuel costs) of movement by the vehicle(cost-sharing), the traffic costs per user may be reduced compared to acase of each user moving by his/her own vehicle.

A schematic configuration of the ride-sharing system according to thefirst embodiment is illustrated in FIG. 1. The ride-sharing systemaccording to the present embodiment includes a user terminal 10 carriedby a user, and a server device 20.

In the present embodiment, a user who drives a vehicle will be referredto as a driver user, and a user who rides in the vehicle driven by thedriver user will be referred to as a passenger user.

The user terminal 10 may be switched between a mode of use by thepassenger user (hereinafter “first mode”), and a mode of use by thedriver user (hereinafter “second mode”). In the following, the userterminal 10 operating in the first mode will be referred to as a userterminal 10A as necessary. Moreover, the user terminal operating in thesecond mode will be referred to as a user terminal 10B. In the casewhere the modes do not have to be distinguished from each other, acollective term of “user terminal(s) 10” will be used. Details ofoperation in each mode will be given later.

A passenger user registers, through the user terminal 10A, informationabout conditions and the like for ride-sharing in the server device 20.Information to be registered in the server device by the passenger userincludes a departure point, a destination, a desired vehicle ridingdate/time, and a desired alighting date/time of the passenger user, forexample.

Moreover, like the passenger user, the driver user registers, throughthe user terminal 10B, information about conditions and the like forride-sharing in the server device 20. Information to be registered inthe server device by the driver user includes information about movementof a vehicle that is driven by the driver user, and includes a departurepoint, a destination, a drive start date/time, a scheduled arrivaldate/time, and a travel route of the driver user, for example.

In the following, information about movement of the passenger user willbe referred to as a movement schedule, and information about travelingof the vehicle of the driver user will be referred to as a travelschedule. These will be collectively referred to as “schedule(s)”.

For example, these pieces of information are generated by applicationsoftware, installed in the user terminal 10, for using the ride-sharingservice, and are registered in the server device 20. However, thesepieces of information do not necessarily have to be registered using amobile terminal. For example, registration may be performed by using anarbitrary terminal (such as a smartphone, a mobile phone, a tabletterminal, a personal digital assistant, or a wearable computer) or apersonal computer that can be connected to a network.

The server device 20 acquires the schedules from the passenger user andthe driver user, and provisionally determines a combination of passengeruser and driver user based on the schedules transmitted from the users.Then, the determined information is transmitted to the user terminals10A and 10B, and acceptance is requested. When information indicatingacceptance of conditions for ride-sharing is received from the userterminals 10A and 10B, the server device 20 settles the combination ofusers. In the following description, a process of the server device 20generating a combination of users by the procedure described above willbe referred to as a matching process.

A route of the vehicle that is driven by the driver user (hereinafter“scheduled travel route”), a location where the passenger user is toboard (hereinafter “boarding location”), a location where the passengeruser is to alight (hereinafter “alighting location”) and the like aredetermined by the matching process.

Information that is obtained as a result of matching (hereinafter“matching information”) is transmitted to the user terminal 10A and theuser terminal 10B. For example, the matching information includesinformation about the vehicle that is driven by the driver user (type ofvehicle, color, license plate information, etc.), information about thepassenger user and the driver user (gender, age, etc.), informationabout movement (boarding location, alighting location, scheduledboarding time, scheduled alighting time, movement route,presence/absence of another passenger, cost of movement, etc.), and thelike. When each user who acquired the matching information accepts thematching, matching between the passenger user and the driver user issettled. A user who drives the vehicle and a user who wants a lift maythereby join each other and move.

In the ride-sharing system according to the present embodiment, the userterminal 10A, the user terminal 10B, and the server device 20 areinterconnected by a network. As the network, a wide area network (WAN),which is a worldwide public communication network such as the Internet,or other communication networks may be adopted, for example.Furthermore, the network may include a telephone communication networkfor mobile phones, or a wireless communication network such as Wi-Fi(registered trademark), for example.

Hardware Configuration

Next, a configuration of the user terminal 10 will be described. FIG. 2is a diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the user terminal10 and the server device 20.

For example, the user terminal 10 is a small computer such as asmartphone, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, a personal digitalassistant, a laptop computer, or a wearable computer (such as asmartwatch). The user terminal 10 includes a control unit 101, a mainmemory unit 102, an auxiliary memory unit 103, an input/output unit 104,a position acquisition unit 105, and a communication unit 106.

The control unit 101 is an arithmetic device that is in charge ofcontrol that is performed by the user terminal 10. The control unit 101may be implemented by an arithmetic processing device such as a centralprocessing unit (CPU).

The main memory unit 102 is a memory where programs to be executed bythe control unit 101, and data to be used by the control programs aredeveloped.

The auxiliary memory unit 103 is a device storing programs to beexecuted by the control unit 101, and data to be used by the controlprograms. The auxiliary memory unit 103 may store an applicationpackaging programs to be executed by the control unit 101. An operatingsystem for executing the applications may also be stored. A processdescribed later is performed by programs stored in the auxiliary memoryunit 103 loaded into the main memory unit 102 and executed by thecontrol unit 101.

The main memory unit 102 may include a random access memory (RAM) and aread only memory (ROM). The auxiliary memory unit 103 may include anerasable programmable ROM (EPROM) and a hard disk drive (HDD). Theauxiliary memory unit 103 may further include a removable medium, or inother words, a removable recording medium. The removable medium is auniversal serial bus (USB) memory, or a disk recording medium such as acompact disc (CD) or a digital versatile disc (DVD), for example.

The input/output unit 104 is a unit that receives an input operationperformed by a user, and that presents information to the user. In thepresent embodiment, the input/output unit 104 is one touch paneldisplay. That is, the input/output unit 104 includes a liquid crystaldisplay and control unit therefor, and a touch panel and control unittherefor.

The position acquisition unit 105 is a unit that acquires a currentposition (such as a latitude and a longitude) of the user terminal 10from a GPS module provided in the device.

The communication unit 106 is a wireless communication interface forconnecting the user terminal 10 to a network. For example, thecommunication unit 106 provides access to a network through a mobilecommunication service such as a wireless LAN, 3G, or LTE.

Next, a hardware configuration of the server device 20 will bedescribed.

The server device 20 is a general computer. That is, the server device20 is a computer including a processor such as a CPU or a GPU, mainmemories such as a RAM and a ROM, and auxiliary memories such as anEPROM, a hard disk drive, and a removable medium. Additionally, theremovable medium may be a USB memory, or a disk recording medium such asa CD or a DVD, for example.

The server device 20 includes a control unit 201, a main memory unit202, an auxiliary memory unit 203, an input/output unit 204, and acommunication unit 205.

The auxiliary memory unit 203 of the server device 20 stores anoperating system (OS), various programs, various tables, and the like,and each function matching a predetermined object as described later maybe implemented by loading a program stored in the auxiliary memory unit203 into a work area of the main memory unit 202 and executing theprogram by the control unit 201.

The control unit 201, the main memory unit 202, and the auxiliary memoryunit 203 are the same as those of the user terminal 10, and a detaileddescription thereof is omitted.

The input/output unit 204 is a unit that receives an input operationperformed by a system administrator, and that presents information tothe system administrator. The input/output unit 204 includes a displaydevice, a keyboard, a pointing device, and the like, for example.

The communication unit 205 is a communication interface for connectingthe server device 20 to a network. The communication unit 205 includes anetwork interface board, and a wireless communication circuit forwireless communication, for example.

Additionally, the configuration illustrated in FIG. 2 is merely anexample, and all or a part of the functions illustrated may beimplemented by a circuit which is exclusively designed. Moreover,programs may be stored or executed by a combination of main memory andauxiliary memory other than those illustrated.

Furthermore, a part or all of the functions illustrated may beimplemented by a hardware circuit such as an ASIC or an FPGA. Moreover,the server device 20 may be a single computer, or may be a plurality ofcomputers that operate in conjunction with each other.

Functional Configuration

Next, a functional configuration of the user terminal 10 and the serverdevice 20 will be described.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating functional modules implemented by theuser terminal 10. The user terminal 10 according to the presentembodiment includes, as functional modules, a schedule acquisition unit1011, a guidance unit 1012, a position information transmission unit1013, and a notification unit 1014. Each functional module may beimplemented by execution of a stored program by the CPU.

The schedule acquisition unit 1011 acquires information about movementof a user. The schedule acquisition unit 1011 acquires the travelschedule or the movement schedule depending on the mode of the userterminal 10.

Specifically, in the case where the user terminal 10 is in the firstmode (that is, a mode for the passenger user), pieces of informationabout a departure point and a destination of the passenger user,date/time when movement is to be started, and the like are acquired.These pieces of information are transmitted to the server device 20 asthe movement schedule, together with information about the passengeruser.

In the case where the user terminal 10 is in the second mode (that is, amode for the driver user), pieces of information about a departure pointand a destination of the driver user, date/time when driving of thevehicle is to be started, a travel route, and the like are acquired.These pieces of information are transmitted to the server device 20 asthe travel schedule, together with information about the driver user.

The server device 20 performs matching between a plurality of pieces ofuser information (i.e., matching between a user who drives a vehicle anda user who is to ride in the vehicle), and transmits the matchinginformation that is obtained as a result to the user terminals 10possessed by corresponding users.

The guidance unit 1012 provides the user with information about drivingof the vehicle, based on the matching information transmitted from theserver device 20. Specifically, in the case where the user terminal 10is in the first mode, a notification is issued via the input/output unit104, regarding a boarding location, an alighting location, a drive routeof the vehicle, information about the driver user, information aboutother passengers, features of the vehicle, and the like. In the casewhere the user terminal 10 is in the second mode, a notification isissued via the input/output unit 104, regarding information about thepassenger user, a boarding location and an alighting location of eachpassenger user, and the like.

In the case where there is a request from the server device 20, theposition information transmission unit 1013 acquires a current positionof the terminal via the position acquisition unit 105, and transmits thecurrent position to the server device 20.

The notification unit 1014 issues a notification indicating a deviationof the vehicle being driven from a scheduled route, based on informationtransmitted from the server device 20.

Specific processing details will be given later.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating functional modules implemented by theserver device 20. The server device 20 according to the presentembodiment includes, as functional structural elements, functionalmodules including a matching unit 2011, a route check unit 2012, anotification unit 2013, a reservation database 2031, and a membershipdatabase 2032. Each functional module may be implemented by execution ofa stored program by the CPU.

The reservation database 2031 and the membership database 2032 arestructured by management of data stored in the auxiliary memory unit203, by programs of a database management system executed by the controlunit 201. These databases may be relational databases.

The reservation database 2031 is a database storing reservationinformation for the ride-sharing service. Specifically, informationabout the driver user and information about the passenger user who isscheduled to ride in the vehicle that is driven by the driver user areassociated with each other.

An example of the reservation information stored in the reservationdatabase 2031 will be described with reference to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is adiagram illustrating a structure of a table (reservation table) in thereservation database. Additionally, information registered in thereservation table is not limited to the example illustrated in FIG. 5,and fields may be added, changed, or deleted as appropriate.

The reservation table includes fields of a reservation ID, a user ID ofa driver, vehicle information, a user ID of a passenger, a boardinglocation, a scheduled boarding date/time, an alighting location, ascheduled alighting date/time, a scheduled travel route, and a status.

The reservation ID field stores an identifier for uniquely identifying areservation.

The driver ID field stores a user ID of a user (driver user) who drivesa vehicle which can be used for ride-sharing. In the same manner, thepassenger ID field stores a user ID of a user (passenger user) who is toreceive a lift. Additionally, a plurality of passengers may beassociated with one reservation (for example, R002).

The vehicle information field stores information about the vehicle thatis driven by the driver user. Information about a vehicle may beinformation about a type of the vehicle, a registration number (licenseplate information), a color of a vehicle body, and the like, or may beonly an identifier of the vehicle.

The boarding location field stores information indicating a locationwhere the passenger user gets on the vehicle that is driven by thedriver user. The alighting location field stores information indicatinga location where the passenger user gets off the vehicle. The boardinglocation and the alighting location may be expressed in latitude andlongitude, or in any format as long as the location may be identified.For example, an address may be used, or a name of a landmark may beused.

The scheduled boarding date/time field stores information indicating ascheduled date/time of boarding of the passenger user at a correspondingboarding location. The scheduled alighting date/time field storesinformation indicating a scheduled date/time of alighting of thepassenger user.

The scheduled travel route field stores information indicating ascheduled route on which the vehicle that is driven by the driver usertravels (hereinafter “scheduled travel route”). The scheduled travelroute is information for identifying the travel route of the vehiclethat is driven by the driver user. For example, the scheduled travelroute may be expressed by a set of nodes or links of a road network, orby a set of locations to be passed. The scheduled travel route isdetermined based on a result of matching described later.

The status field stores information indicating a ride-sharing situation.For example, in the case where the passenger is not yet on board, avalue indicating “before boarding” is stored. In the case where thepassenger is on board, a value indicating “on board” is stored, and inthe case where the passenger already alighted, a value indicating“alighted” is stored.

The membership database 2032 is a database storing information of a userwho is registered as a member for the ride-sharing service. Themembership database stores information about contact information,attributes, and a vehicle of a member in association with the user ID,for example. The contact information of a member is an email address ora telephone number, for example. The attributes of a member are a name,a handle name, age, gender, occupation, and the like. These pieces ofinformation may also be used in matching. Information used by a user toperform authentication may further be registered in the membershipdatabase. License plate information, the type of the vehicle, and colormay be registered as the information about a vehicle, or a vehicle IDmay be registered as the information, for example. Moreover, in the casewhere a corresponding user does not own a vehicle, informationindicating the fact may be registered.

Next, the matching unit 2011 will be described.

The matching unit 2011 performs matching between users based on themovement schedule transmitted from a passenger user and the travelschedule transmitted from a driver user.

A matching process according to the present embodiment is a process ofcombining a passenger user and a driver user such that the passengeruser may move to a destination by boarding a vehicle that is driven bythe driver user.

Matching is performed based on the travel schedule of the vehicle thatis driven by the driver user and the movement schedule of the passengeruser.

Specifically, the movement schedule transmitted from the user terminal10A of the passenger user and the travel schedule transmitted from theuser terminal 10B of the driver user are received, and matching betweenappropriate schedules is performed by comparing the travel schedule ofthe driver user and the movement schedule of the passenger user.

For example, in the case where the departure point and the destinationof the passenger user are on the travel route of the vehicle that isdriven by the driver user, and the users' respective movementdates/times coincide, the passenger user and the driver user arematched.

The scheduled travel route of the vehicle that is driven by the driveruser is settled by the matching.

Additionally, in the case where a route is included in the travelschedule, the scheduled travel route may be generated based on theroute, or in the case where a route is not provided by the driver user,the matching unit 2011 may dynamically generate the scheduled travelroute. In the case of generating the scheduled travel route, a routewhich is predicted to achieve fastest movement may be selected based onpredicted congestion information, traffic regulation information or thelike, and the selected route may be set as the scheduled travel route.

Matching may be established on condition of acceptance by the user. Inthis case, a provisional matching result may be transmitted to the userterminals 10A and 10B, and matching may be formally established whenaccepted by all the users.

When matching is formally established, the matching unit 2011 generatesmatching information. The matching information includes, in addition toinformation about whether matching may be established or not, personalinformation about a matching counterpart (such as a name, a telephonenumber, and an email address), for example.

The matching information further includes the boarding location and thealighting location of at least one passenger user, a scheduled route,information about the passenger user and the driver user, features ofthe vehicle, and the like.

The generated matching information is transmitted to the user terminal10A and the user terminal 10B, and is presented to the users through theguidance units 1012. Personal information about the matching counterpartis thereby provided to the passenger user and the driver user for whommatching is established. The passenger user and the driver user for whommatching is established are thereby enabled to contact each other.

When matching is established, the matching unit 2011 stores relevantinformation in the reservation database.

Additionally, the method of performing the matching process by thematching unit 2011 is not limited to the method described above, and thematching process may be performed by other methods using knowntechniques.

After matching is established, and the passenger user and the driveruser start moving, the route check unit 2012 checks whether the vehicleis traveling along the scheduled route or not. In the presentembodiment, position information of the user terminal 10 is periodicallycollected, and a degree of coincidence between the actual travel routeof the vehicle and the scheduled travel route is calculated, and anotification is issued in the case where a deviation of the vehicle fromthe scheduled travel route is determined based on the result ofcalculation.

The notification unit 2013 is a unit that issues a notification in thecase where a deviation of the vehicle from the scheduled travel route isdetermined. A specific method will be described later.

Processing Flow

Next, details of the process that is performed by the server device 20in the ride-sharing system according to the first embodiment will begiven. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a process that is performed duringtraveling of a vehicle which a driver user and a passenger user areriding.

The illustrated process is performed by the route check unit 2012 in acase where the status in the reservation table is “on board”.

First, in step S11, the scheduled travel route of the vehicle isacquired. The scheduled travel route of the vehicle may be acquired byreferring to the reservation database (reservation table).

Next, in step S12, the current position of the vehicle is acquired. Thecurrent position of the vehicle may be identified by collecting positioninformation from the user terminal 10 possessed by a user who is onboard the vehicle. Specifically, a user who is on board the vehicle isidentified by referring to the reservation database, and the userterminal 10 possessed by the user is identified by referring to themembership database. Then, the position information transmission unit1013 of the corresponding user terminal 10 is requested to transmit theposition information, and the position information which is transmittedin response to the request is collected.

Additionally, the current position of the vehicle may be determinedbased on the position information of the user terminal 10B possessed bythe driver user, or may be determined based on a plurality of pieces ofposition information collected from a plurality of user terminals 10.The acquired current position of the vehicle is temporarily stored.

Next, in step S13, an estimated required time until the location wherethe passenger user is scheduled to alight is reached is calculated. Inthe case where there are a plurality of passenger users, the process maybe performed taking one of the passenger users as a target, or aplurality of estimated required times may be calculated and arepresentative value may be determined.

Estimation of the required time may be performed by a known method. Thecalculated estimated required time is temporarily stored in atime-series format. For example, n estimated required times calculatedbetween n time steps before and a current time are stored.

Next, in step S14, a rate of increase/decrease in the estimated requiredtime is calculated.

An increase/decrease in the estimated required time will now bedescribed. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the estimated required timethat changes with a lapse of time. The estimated required time until adestination (alighting location) is reached is decreased as the vehiclemoves closer to the destination. Accordingly, in the case where theestimated required time is monotonously decreased with a lapse of time,as in period 1, the vehicle is estimated to be smoothly traveling towardthe destination.

In the case where the estimated required time is temporarily increasedand is then decreased, as in period 2, it is estimated that the travelroute is rerouted.

In the case where the estimated required time stops to be decreased, asin period 3, a direction of traveling of the vehicle is estimated to bechanging from a direction of moving closer to the destination to adirection of moving away from the destination.

Furthermore, in the case where the estimated required time is increasedwith a lapse of time, as in period 4, the vehicle is estimated to betraveling in a direction of moving away from the destination.

In this manner, whether the vehicle is traveling toward a destination ornot may be determined based on the rate of increase/decrease in theestimated required time until the destination (alighting location) isreached.

In the first embodiment, whether the vehicle is traveling along apredetermined scheduled travel route or not is determined based on therate of increase/decrease in the estimated required time in unit time(such as three minutes, five minutes, or ten minutes). FIG. 8 is adiagram describing the rate of increase/decrease in the estimatedrequired time in unit time. As illustrated in the drawing, a deviationof the vehicle from the scheduled travel route is estimated to begreater, the greater the rate of increase/decrease in the estimatedrequired time in unit time.

In step S14, the rate of increase/decrease in the estimated requiredtime in unit time is calculated. For example, in the case where theestimated required time is decreased by five minutes over a lapse offive minutes, the rate of increase/decrease is −100%. Additionally, therate of increase/decrease may also be calculated for each of a pluralityof time units, and a representative value (such as a mean value) may beacquired. A value determined in this manner is a value representing thedegree of deviation from the scheduled travel route.

Next, in step S15, whether the calculated rate of increase/decreaseexceeds a first threshold or not is determined. The first threshold is athreshold for notifying the driver user of a small deviation from aroute in a case such a deviation is estimated. For example, in the casewhere the first threshold is “0%”, a positive determination is made whenthe rate of increase/decrease exceeds 0% (i.e., when the rate takes apositive value).

In the case where the calculated rate of increase/decrease exceeds thefirst threshold, whether the calculated rate of increase/decreaseexceeds a second threshold or not is determined in step S16. The secondthreshold is a threshold for notifying the administrator of a greatdeviation from the route in a case such a deviation is estimated. Forexample, in the case where the second threshold is “+50%”, a positivedetermination is made when the rate of increase/decrease exceeds 50%.

In the case where the calculated rate of increase/decrease exceeds thefirst threshold but does not exceeds the second threshold, anotification is issued to the user terminal 10 in step S18.Specifically, a notification indicating that the first threshold isexceeded is transmitted to the user terminal 10B possessed by the driveruser, and the notification unit 1014 of the user terminal 10B issues anotification indicating that the vehicle is not traveling as planned.

The first threshold is a threshold for notifying of a small deviation.Accordingly, for example, in a case where the driver user takes a wrongroute, the driver user is enabled to grasp such a situation by thenotification, and may be urged to return to the original route.

On the other hand, in the case where the calculated rate ofincrease/decrease exceeds both the first threshold and the secondthreshold, a notification is issued to the system administrator in stepS17. Specifically, an alarm is output via the notification unit 2013 asa notification indicating that the vehicle is not traveling as planned.

The second threshold is a threshold for notifying of a great deviation.If the route is not corrected in response to the notification issued instep S18, a notification is issued to the system administrator.

Additionally, in step S17, the notification may be issued only to thesystem administrator, or may be issued also to the user on board thevehicle. For example, the notification may be issued to the userterminals 10 possessed by the driver user and the passenger user. Thedriver user may thus be urged to contact the system administrator.

As described above, in the ride-sharing system according to the firstembodiment, the degree of deviation from the scheduled route iscalculated by checking the scheduled travel route against the currentposition of the vehicle, and a notification is issued to differentdevices depending on whether the degree of deviation is small or great.Such a configuration enables an operation according to which anotification is issued only to the driver user in the case of a smalldeviation, and an alarm is issued only in the case when there isoccurrence of an utter deviation. A burden on the driver user may bereduced, especially because a notification may be received beforeoccurrence of an utter deviation is determined.

Additionally, in the present embodiment, a notification is issued instep S18 to the user terminal 10B possessed by the driver user, but thenotification may alternatively be issued to the user terminal 10Apossessed by the passenger user. Moreover, the notification may betransmitted to an in-vehicle terminal provided in the vehicle.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, an estimated required time untila location where the passenger user alights is reached is calculated,but a remaining distance to the alighting location may be calculatedinstead to be used for determination. Other values may also be used aslong as whether or not the vehicle is moving closer to the alightinglocation as planned may be determined.

Example Modification 1 of First Embodiment

In the first embodiment, the route check unit 2012 of the server device20 checks the route of the vehicle, but checking of the route mayalternatively be performed by the user terminal 10A possessed by thepassenger user or the user terminal 10B possessed by the driver user.

For example, the user terminal 10 may check the scheduled travel routeincluded in the matching information against the position informationthat is periodically acquired by the position acquisition unit 105, andmay calculate the degree of deviation from the route. That is, theprocess illustrated in FIG. 6 may be performed by the user terminal 10.In this case, information about the thresholds may be included in thematching information to be transmitted from the server device 20 to theuser terminal 10. Moreover, the estimated required time may becalculated using an external service.

In the present example modification, in the case where the rate ofincrease/decrease in the estimated required time exceeds the firstthreshold but does not exceed the second threshold, the user terminal 10issues a notification through the notification unit 1014. In the casewhere the rate of increase/decrease in the estimated required timeexceeds both the first threshold and the second threshold, the serverdevice 20 is notified of such a state, and the notification unit 2013 ofthe server device 20 outputs an alarm.

Example Modification 2 of First Embodiment

In the first embodiment, a deviation from a route is determined based onthe rate of increase/decrease in the estimated required time until thedestination (alighting location) is reached, but determination may alsobe performed by other methods. For example, a route already traveled(travel route past record) may be generated based on the positioninformation of the vehicle that is periodically acquired, and a degreeof coincidence between the travel route past record and the scheduledtravel route may be calculated, and occurrence of a deviation may bedetermined in the case where the degree of coincidence is below apredetermined threshold.

Moreover, a distance between the position of the vehicle and thescheduled travel route may be calculated, and occurrence of a deviationmay be determined based on the distance. For example, occurrence of adeviation may be determined in the case where a state where the distancebetween the position of the vehicle and the scheduled travel routeexceeds a threshold continues longer than a predetermined time period.

Additionally, also in these example modifications, two thresholds aredesirably set, and a notification is desirably issued by a differentmethod (or to a different device) for each threshold.

Example Modification

The embodiment described above is merely an example, and the presentdisclosure may be embodied while being changed within the scope of thegist of the disclosure as appropriate.

In the description of the embodiment, a mode in which the driver userdrives the vehicle is illustrated, but the vehicle which the passengeruser is to board may be an autonomous car.

Furthermore, in the description of the embodiment, notifications aretransmitted to different devices in steps S17 and S18, but thenotifications may be transmitted to a same device. In this case,notifications may be issued by different methods (such as by display andby an alarm sound) in respective cases. Moreover, in the case oftransmitting notifications to different devices in steps S17 and S18,transmission destinations of the notifications are not limited to thedevices illustrated above.

Furthermore, in the description of the embodiment, in the case wherethere is a deviation of the vehicle from the scheduled travel route, anotification is issued, but in a situation where there is no occurrenceof deviation, a notification of such a situation may also be issued.Such a configuration may allow the user to feel secure.

A configuration may be introduced according to which a notification istransmitted from the user terminal 10 to the server device 20 in a casewhere the passenger user feels insecure. According to such aconfiguration, the system administrator may contact the driver user tocheck the situation, for example.

Processes and means described in the present disclosure may be freelycombined to the extent that no technical conflicts exist.

Moreover, a process that is described to be performed by one device maybe performed, shared among a plurality of devices. Processes that aredescribed to be performed by different devices may be performed by onedevice. Which function is to be implemented by which hardware component(server component) in a computer system may be flexibly changed.

The present disclosure may also be implemented by supplying computerprograms for implementing the functions described in the embodimentabove to a computer, and one or more processors of the computer readingout and executing the programs. Such computer programs may be providedto the computer by a non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumthat can be connected to a system bus of the computer, or may beprovided to the computer through a network. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium may be any type of disk includingmagnetic disks (floppy (registered trademark) disks, hard disk drives(HDDs), etc.) and optical disks (CD-ROMs, DVD discs, Blu-ray discs,etc.), read only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs,EEPROMs, magnetic cards, flash memories, optical cards, and any type ofmedium suitable for storing electronic instructions.

What is claimed is:
 1. An information processing apparatus comprising acontrol unit configured to: acquire information about a predeterminedtravel route of a vehicle that travels with a plurality of users onboard; acquire a current position of the vehicle; acquire a degree ofdeviation, which is a value indicating a degree of deviation of thevehicle from the predetermined travel route; compare the currentposition of the vehicle and the predetermined travel route against eachother; perform, based on whether the degree of deviation exceeds apredetermined threshold or not, determination as to whether the vehicleis traveling along the predetermined travel route or not; and issue anotification to a predetermined device, in a case where a deviation ofthe vehicle from the predetermined travel route is determined, wherein:the predetermined threshold includes a first threshold and a secondthreshold higher than the first threshold, and in a case where thedegree of deviation is at or higher than the first threshold and lowerthan the second threshold, the control unit determines that the vehicleis in a first state, and in a case where the degree of deviation is ator higher than the second threshold, the control unit determines thatthe vehicle is in a second state.
 2. The information processingapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined device is anyone of a mobile terminal possessed by the user, an in-vehicle terminalprovided in the vehicle, and a server device that manages the vehicle.3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, whereinthe control unit issues a notification to the predetermined device by adifferent method between a case where the vehicle is in the first stateand a case where the vehicle is in the second state.
 4. The informationprocessing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unittransmits the notification to a different device between a case wherethe vehicle is in the first state and a case where the vehicle is in thesecond state.
 5. The information processing apparatus according to claim4, wherein the control unit transmits the notification to a terminalthat is possessed by a driver of the vehicle, in a case where thevehicle is in the first state.
 6. The information processing apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the degree of deviation is calculatedbased on a rate of increase/decrease in an estimated required time untilan alighting location of the user, present on the predetermined travelroute, is reached.
 7. An information processing method for causing aninformation processing apparatus to perform the steps of: acquiringinformation about a predetermined travel route of a vehicle that travelswith a plurality of users on board; acquiring a current position of thevehicle; acquiring a degree of deviation, which is a value indicating adegree of deviation of the vehicle from the predetermined travel route;comparing the current position of the vehicle and the predeterminedtravel route against each other; performing, based on whether the degreeof deviation exceeds a predetermined threshold or not, determination asto whether the vehicle is traveling along the predetermined travel routeor not; and issuing a notification to a predetermined device, in a casewhere a deviation of the vehicle from the predetermined travel route isdetermined, wherein: the predetermined threshold includes a firstthreshold and a second threshold higher than the first threshold, and ina case where the degree of deviation is at or higher than the firstthreshold and lower than the second threshold, the method furthercomprises determining that the vehicle is in a first state, and in acase where the degree of deviation is at or higher than the secondthreshold, the method further comprises determining that the vehicle isin a second state.
 8. A non-transitory computer readable storing mediumrecording a computer program for causing a computer to perform aninformation processing method comprising the steps of: acquiringinformation about a predetermined travel route of a vehicle that travelswith a plurality of users on board; acquiring a current position of thevehicle; acquiring a degree of deviation, which is a value indicating adegree of deviation of the vehicle from the predetermined travel route;comparing the current position of the vehicle and the predeterminedtravel route against each other; performing, based on whether the degreeof deviation exceeds a predetermined threshold or not, determination asto whether the vehicle is traveling along the predetermined travel routeor not; and issuing a notification to a predetermined device, in a casewhere a deviation of the vehicle from the predetermined travel route isdetermined, wherein: the predetermined threshold includes a firstthreshold and a second threshold higher than the first threshold, and ina case where the degree of deviation is at or higher than the firstthreshold and lower than the second threshold, the performed methodfurther comprises determining that the vehicle is in a first state, andin a case where the degree of deviation is at or higher than the secondthreshold, the performed method further comprises determining that thevehicle is in a second state.